ESP Biography



MELISSA KO, MIT alum and current cancer biology researcher!




Major: Cancer Biology

College/Employer: Stanford University

Year of Graduation: 2018

Picture of Melissa Ko

Brief Biographical Sketch:

I graduated from MIT in 2012 with a major in biology and minor in literature.

I am now pursuing my PhD at Stanford in Cancer Biology.



Past Classes

  (Clicking a class title will bring you to the course's section of the corresponding course catalog)

W7867: Pixel Art with Post-Its in Splash! 2013 (Nov. 23 - 24, 2013)
Make huge works of art out of post-it notes! Using each individual post-it note as a single color pixel, you can recreate sprites from your favorite retro video games. Choose your design, or create your own, and work as a team to make awesome murals of Pokemon, Mario, and more.


E8009: Physics of Spaceflight (with Kerbal Space Program) in Splash! 2013 (Nov. 23 - 24, 2013)
Do you want to go to space?! Come learn how to do it, and practice your skills. You will learn the basic physics principles behind rocket launching and orbiting, including: - Gravity - Rocket Physics - Orbital Physics You will apply these principles to build the best launch vehicle to get into orbit. We will be using the game Kerbal Space Program. From the game's official website at kerbalspaceprogram.com: "KSP is a game where the players create and manage their own space program. Build spacecraft, fly them, and try to help the Kerbals to fulfill their ultimate mission of conquering space."


S6457: Finding a Cure for Cancer in Splash! 2012 (Nov. 17 - 18, 2012)
It has been more than forty years since President Nixon declared “war” on cancer, starting a nationwide effort to research and develop more effective treatments for cancer. So now, in 2012, many people are wondering: where is the cure? Learn about the complexities of cancer and tumor biology, the kinds of questions we are answering with research now, and why “finding a cure for cancer” is not as simple as it sounds.


X5949: Cryptic Crosswords! in ESPrinkler Spring 2012 (Feb. 18 - Apr. 14, 2012)
Do you like regular crosswords and want to try something new and more challenging? Or maybe you like word games, like Scrabble or Anagrams? Cryptic crosswords combine the best parts of regular crossword puzzles and other word games. We'll teach you how clues like "Change of heart for our planet" can solve to "EARTH" and some of the rules for how cryptic crosswords work, and then you can try solving some on your own!


X5039: Cupcake Battle! in Splash! 2011 (Nov. 19 - 20, 2011)
Can you make the tastiest, prettiest, most awesome cupcake? Learn how to spice up the average cake mix and create cupcakes that are too adorable to eat. We will teach you the basics of cupcake construction and decoration. Students then compete to make the best cupcake, there can only be one! Unfortunately, we cannot accommodate those who do not eat dairy and egg. Candies may include nuts though people with less severe allergies can opt out of using/eating them.


H4619: Reading Poetry in Spark! 2011 (Mar. 12, 2011)
How do you read a poem? What does a poem mean? Where can we find this meaning? Come and enjoy the lyrical music in poetry as we read several poems, some widely acclaimed and some relatively unknown! We will discuss poems and what they could mean by examining tone, rhyme, voice, figurative language and more.


S4632: Cancer Biology: Causes and Cures in Spark! 2011 (Mar. 12, 2011)
Did you know that one in every two males is expected to develop cancer in his lifetime? Did you know that one in every three women will do the same? What puts people at risk to develop cancer? Why are smokers 10-20 times more likely to die from lung cancer than non-smokers? Why does having more children reduce a woman's chance of getting breast cancer? Cancer is a disease where a single cell transforms over time into a malignant growth, a tumor that can spread and take over the rest of the human body. While research scientists have struggled to find a cure for this leading cause of death, many questions about cancer are still unanswered. In this class we will talk about risk factors for cancer and how a cell becomes a cancer cell at the molecular level. Through this understanding of what differentiates a transformed cell from a normal cell, we will understand current treatments today like Gleevec, the "magic bullet" for cancer, and how they work.


S4053: Proteins! in Splash! 2010 (Nov. 20 - 21, 2010)
Proteins are awesome, REALLY awesome! Learn about what proteins are, what they are made of, how they are made, and what they can do!


S4055: Basic Cell Biology in Splash! 2010 (Nov. 20 - 21, 2010)
How are cells defined? How do they function? How do cells move, communicate, and specialize for unique functions in multicellular life? We will discuss components of the cell, basic processes, and what cells do in organisms as complicated as humans.


H4060: Women in Poetry in Splash! 2010 (Nov. 20 - 21, 2010)
Together, we will read and discuss poems by poets such as Marianne Moore, Sylvia Plath, Elizabeth Bishop, Maya Angelou, Emily Dickinson, Anne Bradstreet, and Adrienne Rich. We will talk about women in the history of poetry and see how poetry (in terms of content and style) reflects the changing role of women in society. We will also go through several poems for enjoyment's sake.


N4861: AP Biology in Delve 2011-2012 (Sep. 18, 2011)
The AP Biology course is designed to be taken by students after the successful completion of a first course in high school biology and one in high school chemistry. It aims to provide students with the conceptual framework, factual knowledge, and analytical skills necessary to deal critically with the rapidly changing science of biology. The two main goals of AP Biology are to help students develop a conceptual framework for modern biology and to help students gain an appreciation of science as a process. The ongoing information explosion in biology makes these goals even more challenging. Primary emphasis in an AP Biology course should be on developing an understanding of concepts rather than on memorizing terms and technical details. Essential to this conceptual understanding are the following: a grasp of science as a process rather than as an accumulation of facts; personal experience in scientific inquiry; recognition of unifying themes that integrate the major topics of biology; and application of biological knowledge and critical thinking to environmental and social concerns. (from collegeboard.com)


N4914: AP Biology: Section 2 in Delve 2011-2012 (Sep. 18, 2011)
The AP Biology course is designed to be taken by students after the successful completion of a first course in high school biology and one in high school chemistry. It aims to provide students with the conceptual framework, factual knowledge, and analytical skills necessary to deal critically with the rapidly changing science of biology. The two main goals of AP Biology are to help students develop a conceptual framework for modern biology and to help students gain an appreciation of science as a process. The ongoing information explosion in biology makes these goals even more challenging. Primary emphasis in an AP Biology course should be on developing an understanding of concepts rather than on memorizing terms and technical details. Essential to this conceptual understanding are the following: a grasp of science as a process rather than as an accumulation of facts; personal experience in scientific inquiry; recognition of unifying themes that integrate the major topics of biology; and application of biological knowledge and critical thinking to environmental and social concerns. (from collegeboard.com)


S3666: Biology: How Cells Work in HSSP Harvard HSSP Fall 2010 (Oct. 02, 2010)
How can a change in one nucleotide in a genome of three billion bases cause a devastating disease? How do proteins take on different functions within a living cell when they are made of the same “alphabet” of 20 amino acids? How can cells function and react to a constantly changing environment without a “brain”? Learn how biological organisms function and survive, starting with the basics of physical science and working our way up! This class will look at biology in the context of chemistry, physics, and more, going from the simplest reactions and compounds to the diverse populations of cells working in the human body. Create a dynamic picture of molecular/cellular biology as a process in your head and forget about memorizing names and reactions!


H3332: Modern Poetry in Spark! 2010 (Mar. 13, 2010)
Come read and discuss well-known modern poems. We will first briefly go over the history of modernist poetry and common themes/stylistic choices, before reading through work that famously represents the movement. Some poets we may cover are pre-modernists Dickinson and Whitman, modernists Eliot, Pound, Moore, Stevens, Williams, cummings, and some postmodernists.


X3333: How to Eat Food Right in Spark! 2010 (Mar. 13, 2010)
There will be cake among other things, no joke. Learn how to eat like a starving engineer connoisseur college student.


X2727: Tofu in Splash! 2009 (Nov. 21 - 22, 2009)
What is tofu? Where does it come from? Why should I eat it? How should I eat it? Have all of your lifelong questions on tofu answered! Get over your phobia of this mysteriously jiggly substance! You too can learn to appreciate and enjoy tofu like all of the cool kids.


X2918: Rise of Modern Gaming in Splash! 2009 (Nov. 21 - 22, 2009)
Why do we play video games now more than ever? The Electronic Software Association reported in 2009 that 68% of American households play video games. How has the video game industry grown to attract such a large following? What attracts people to video games? We have come a long way from Pong arcade games to Halo multiplayer online matches, setting new standards in gameplay, graphics, and storytelling. Learn about how influential games have shaped video games as we know them and see what events led to today's gaming culture.


Literary Theory in JUNCTION (2010)
(to be filled in) The prerequisites for this class were: the more experience with literary analysis, linguistics, or psychology the ...


Reading Poetry: Hope and Disillusionment in JUNCTION (2010)
(to be filled in) The prerequisites for this class were: able to handle mature content and willing to discuss with ...


Reading Poetry: Love and Conflict in JUNCTION (2010)
(to be filled in) The prerequisites for this class were: able to handle mature content and willing to discuss with ...